Ask Alexa for Kia OVO Skill

Owners of certain Kias can now control a number of vehicle functions —such as start and stop the engine and heat or cool their cars, depending on model and model year—using simple voice commands from the comfort of their home. Called UVO Skill, the system also allows owners to lock doors, sound the horn and flash the lights, and start and stop charging their plug-in or electric vehicle whenever they choose. All that’s needed is a device with Amazon Alexa like Echo or Echo Dot and one of the following Kia vehicles with compatible UVO hardware: Niro PHEV, Soul EV, Optima PHEV and K900.1 UVO Skill set-up is easy via the Alexa companion app.

Airbiquity Showcases OTAmatic

Airbiquity, a global leader in connected vehicle services, will showcase its OTAmatic over-the-air (OTA) software and data management solution at Hannover Messe 2018, the world’s leading trade fair for industrial technology, in Hanover, GermanyApril 23-27. Located in the Huawei exhibit (Hall 6 – Stand D18), the company will demonstrate its industry-leading OTA connected vehicle service delivery capability that allows automakers and automotive suppliers to efficiently and securely orchestrate and automate software update and data management campaigns from the cloud.

Airbiquity OTAmatic complements Huawei’s OceanConnect Internet of Vehicle (IoV) Platform which provides innovative mobility services to customers. Huawei is deploying OceanConnect globally on top of its Cloud Family public cloud to help connect hundreds of millions of vehicles and different industries. This connectivity will enable integrated development of connected cars, smart homes, and smart cities, providing a full range of services for individuals, automobiles, and society as a whole.

In addition to providing OTAmatic demos for Huawei exhibit visitors, Airbiquity executives will provide 15-minute overviews about the role of automotive OTA and OTAmatic in the Huawei exhibit theater.

AllGo Multi Displays

The advent of Autonomous driving leads to availability of multiple ways in which the driver consumes and interacts with the system. Multiple displays constitute a key component of those interactions. These displays could be wired devices fixed in the vehicle or could be the user brought-in-devices (BYODs) such as iPads and Android tablets. Enabling these interactions require seamless distribution of content from one display to another controlled by a centralized unit. The content could be of various types such as audio, video, or interactive HMI.

AllGo’s multi-display solution enables different types of content from a Central Head Unit to be independently accessible in different displays at the same time. It also allows same content to be consumed across all displays by multiple users in a synchronous fashion. Features of AllGo

Synchronized streaming of multimedia content from Head Unit to wired displays and Brought-in-devices.

Enables streaming of independent multimedia content from Head Unit to different displays at the same time.

Allows Remote Control of Multimedia Playback on one display from another.

VOXX EVO Rear-Seat Infotainment

VOXX Automotive, a designer, manufacturer and supplier of electronic products for the world’s leading automotive manufacturers, announced its Evolution Series (EVO) Rear-Seat Infotainment solution uses the advanced multimedia framework from Cinemo, a global leader in high performance and automotive grade multimedia middleware. VOXX Automotive is a business unit of VOXX International Corporation.

DENSO Equity Stake in On the Road Co

DENSO Corporation announced that it has taken an equity stake in On The Road Co., Ltd., a developer of next-generation software using cloud computing, edge computing, and other IT platforms, to accelerate development of technology for Mobility as a Service (MaaS*) systems. The amount of investment is about 160 million yen (approximately US$ 1.5 million) which corresponds to about a 14.88% stake.

To achieve MaaS, Internet of Things (IoT) technology will be required to collect and analyze data obtained from high-speed mobility on a real-time basis, and give optimal feedback of necessary information to mobility service providers via the cloud, such as operation management and car sharing. DENSO has identified MaaS as one of key strategic area of technology development, and is swiftly working on cloud computing technology to consolidate and share a wide range of vehicle information, AI technology to analyze collected data, in-vehicle edge computing, and more.

EVO Smart Home TV/Video Sharing

EVO, winner of the 2018 Planet M Award for innovation in mobility platforms and technologies at this year’s North American International Auto Show, brings a smart home television experience, video sharing and more into today’s vehicles. Drivers and passengers of select 2018 and 2019 vehicles from Ford, GM and Mazda equipped with EVOs are enjoying the benefits of the Cinemo-powered systems today.

Cinemo’s Unified Media Player, one core component of the EVO software stack, extends multimedia enjoyment to all users in a vehicle through a unified approach to playback and distribution of content, a necessity to satisfy the needs of today’s connected car consumers using dedicated iOS and Android applications

More than five years ago, Carvana pioneered the 360-degree used vehicle digital tour, showcasing each car’s features and imperfections in high resolution, all powered by proprietary technology and patented photo studios. Car360 has taken the concept mobile, enabling app-based photo capture and even more immersive viewing capabilities.

An early iteration of Car360 launched in 2012 as a 360-degree panoramic video app called Cycloramic, and at one point became the No. 1 downloaded app on the Apple App Store with more than 20 million downloads. In 2013, the wildly successful app caught the attention of Mark Cuban on Shark Tank, leading to an initial investment that eventually increased as part of a $3.55 million Series A financing round for Car360 in 2017.

Local Motors & Robotic Research

Local Motors partners with industry leading robotics technology group Robotic Research on Olli, the world’s first co-created, electric, autonomous shuttle. The partnership with Robotic Research is the latest integration of a new technology partner and showcase of Local Motors’ open development platform. Jay Rogers, CEO and co-founder of LM Industries, parent company to Local Motors, launched the company to change the paradigm of how products are not only manufactured, but also how they are designed, developed and brought to market.

Matthew Rivett, EVP of Local Motors drives the open platform concept by creating partnerships with industry leading companies and focusing on the customers’ needs.

The partnership between Local Motors and Robotic Research is symbiotic, with the partners working side-by-side to integrate new sensor sets, technology and applications, allowing for quick learnings and technology development.

Cars.com Price Analysis

Have you ever shopped for a new car and a deal seems too good to be true? Sometimes waiting for a better deal isn’t the right move to finding your dream car. Cars.com announced the launch of “Hot Car” as part of its suite of digital pricing tools that will help car buyers determine when and how to act on a purchase–and assist in accelerating sales. The new technology leverages a proprietary machine learning algorithm from Cars.com to identify which vehicles are most likely to sell quickly, based on car make and model, geographic demand, time on lot, pricing and consumer shopping behaviors. Initial testing resulted in double digit increases in conversion, and was particularly strong on mobile.

By analyzing vehicle supply, demand and pricing data in a specific market, Cars.com now offers consumers the insight needed to make informed decisions on the quality of a vehicle. This innovation creates a sense of urgency for consumers, which also benefits local retailers by increasing views, lead conversion and inventory turn rate.

A Hot Car badge will be featured on used vehicle listings that have a 70 percent chance of being sold within seven days from the day it was added or modified on Cars.com. New vehicles will earn a Hot Car badge when they have a 70 percent chance of being sold within 20 days from the day it was added or modified on the site.

Protean Electic eDrive System for Olli

Protean Electric, the automotive technology company and world leader of in-wheel electric drive systems, is pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with LM Industries, the American vehicle manufacturing company focused on open-source vehicle designs and creators of Olli, the world’s first co-created, self-driving, electric and cognitive shuttle.

The two companies’ partnership will initially focus on providing the eDrive system for Olli; then expand into developing new technologies that will accelerate future autonomous and transportation-as-a-service (TaaS) vehicle production.

OZON Auto Autonomous Vehicle Research Center Opens

OZON Auto Autonomous Vehicle Research Center (Silicon Valley) officially opened in the United States, marking a crucial step-forward in building out its global strategic R&D layout, and opening up a new path for global autonomous driving technology.

As a global hub of science and technology innovation, the Silicon Valley is the epicenter of autonomous driving, bringing together the world’s top R&D institutions focusing on autonomous driving technology, such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Baidu.

As the 13th car company to be granted a license for manufacturing new energy vehicles in China, HOZON Auto has been always focused on R&D for intelligent internet-connected new energy vehicles since its establishment in 2014. With a mature R&D system, HOZON Auto has developed a L4 level test vehicle with autonomous driving functionality.

ABB Supplies Fast Charging Stations

ABB has been selected to supply its Terra HP charging stations as part of the biggest electric vehicle infrastructure project to date in the United States.

The chargers, which can refresh even the largest electric vehicle battery in under 15 minutes, were selected for deployment by Electrify America, which plans to place hundreds of charging stations within and around 17 metropolitan areas and along multiple nationwide highway corridors.

Creating a national network of fast charging stations – the EV equivalent of fueling stations – is considered crucial for widespread adoption of electric cars in the United States.

ABB’s Terra HP eliminates those worries. The Terra HP, which can operate at powers of up to 350 kilowatts, is able to add almost 200 miles (320 kilometers) of range to an EV in a time frame not much longer than needed to refuel a gas engine vehicle.

Electrify America’s plan to place chargers on its highway routes at intervals of no more than 120 miles (195 kilometers) means that drivers can be confident they’ll be able to reach their destinations.

ABB’s Terra HP chargers are compatible with both the CCS and CHAdeMO DC fast charging standards, enabling drivers to buy the electric vehicle of their choice with confidence that it will work at all of Electrify America‘s charging sites./

AmazingE Faster Car Charger Uses Electric Dryer Outlet

AmazingE recently launched its 16 Amp Level 2 EVSE, with 3.8kW of goodness. The AmazingE charges electric cars three times faster than the Level 1 cordset that came with the vehicle.

The AmazingE is the first Level 2 charging station with nationally recognized independent safety listing to enter the US market for under $300. The MSRP is $279, but the AmazingE is currently offered at an introductory price of just $219. The AmazingE plugs into a 240V, NEMA 14-30 receptacle (commonly used for clothes dryers).

SUBSCRIBE

You are welcome to subscribe to receive email notification of publication of Connect Car news TIPS, you can also get weekly news summaries or daily emails. Subscribers please note, we just launched a cybersecurity newsletter which we sent to “Embedded Chips Connected Car News Tips” subscribers.